Channels DVR stuck on startup screen (Mac Mini)

Channels DVR Server Troubleshooting
#1

I was on vacation for a week and when I tried accessing my DVR remotely it said it could not access it. Bummer. I figured that my Mac mini had lost power and the DVR had not restarted when it woke back up (that's typical behavior). No matter, I came back from vacation and tried the Mac Mini. It was on. I tried the Channels DVR Server and it didn't seem to be functioning. I rebooted the Mac Mini (taking the opportunity to update the OS) and then tried to start the DVR Server. It is stuck on the startup screen. Check out the screen shot. It has been sitting here for a 20 minutes, maybe?

What should I do?

Screenshot 2025-06-18 at 8.05.04 PM
Screenshot 2025-06-18 at 8.05.04 PM1620×1068 106 KB

#2

Save the last few backups that channels created. Uninstall Channels DVR and then reinstall and restore the backup when prompted.

Good luck,

Morris

#3

You can go to /log and see if there's anything in the logs, or see if you can get to /admin/troubleshooting.

Otherwise, you can run:

curl -XPOST http://<dvr-ip>:8089/diagnostics

to submit diagnostics from the command line and we can check it out.

#4

There are endlessly repeated lines that look like... (I have anonymized XXX, YYY, ZZZ).

2025/06/19 16:28:17.366561 [ERR] Unexpected m3u response for YYY: 404 Not Found
2025/06/19 16:28:19.202920 [DVR] Recording engine started in /Volumes/Media Store/channels-data
2025/06/19 16:28:25.512816 [SYS] Starting Channels DVR v2025.06.01.2212 (darwin-x86_64 pid:99250) in /Users/administrator/Library/Application Support/ChannelsDVR/data
2025/06/19 16:28:25.664378 [SYS] Started HTTP Server on 8089
2025/06/19 16:28:26.725638 [HDR] Found 1 devices
2025/06/19 16:28:26.941986 [M3U] Refreshed lineup for ZZZ with 229 channels
2025/06/19 16:28:27.140448 [ERR] Unexpected m3u response for XXX: 404 Not Found
2025/06/19 16:28:27.326972 [ERR] Unexpected m3u response for YYY: 404 Not Found
2025/06/19 16:28:29.329872 [DVR] Recording engine started in /Volumes/Media Store/channels-data
2025/06/19 16:28:35.623331 [SYS] Starting Channels DVR v2025.06.01.2212 (darwin-x86_64 pid:99261) in /Users/administrator/Library/Application Support/ChannelsDVR/data
2025/06/19 16:28:35.775963 [SYS] Started HTTP Server on 8089
2025/06/19 16:28:39.866236 [HDR] Found 1 devices
2025/06/19 16:28:40.079947 [M3U] Refreshed lineup for ZZZ with 229 channels
2025/06/19 16:28:40.286511 [ERR] Unexpected m3u response for XXX: 404 Not Found
2025/06/19 16:28:40.464401 [ERR] Unexpected m3u response for YYY: 404 Not Found
2025/06/19 16:28:42.365122 [DVR] Recording engine started in /Volumes/Media Store/channels-data
2025/06/19 16:28:45.672649 [SYS] Starting Channels DVR v2025.06.01.2212 (darwin-x86_64 pid:99272) in /Users/administrator/Library/Application Support/ChannelsDVR/data
2025/06/19 16:28:45.824027 [SYS] Started HTTP Server on 8089
2025/06/19 16:28:46.514180 [HDR] Found 1 devices
2025/06/19 16:28:46.900223 [ERR] Unexpected m3u response for YYY: 404 Not Found
2025/06/19 16:28:46.977086 [M3U] Refreshed lineup for ZZZ with 229 channels
2025/06/19 16:28:47.114749 [ERR] Unexpected m3u response for XXX: 404 Not Found
2025/06/19 16:28:49.041785 [DVR] Recording engine started in /Volumes/Media Store/channels-data
2025/06/19 16:28:56.358779 [SYS] Starting Channels DVR v2025.06.01.2212 (darwin-x86_64 pid:99287) in /Users/administrator/Library/Application Support/ChannelsDVR/data
2025/06/19 16:28:56.512129 [SYS] Started HTTP Server on 8089
2025/06/19 16:28:57.575480 [HDR] Found 1 devices
2025/06/19 16:28:57.798745 [M3U] Refreshed lineup for ZZZ with 229 channels
2025/06/19 16:28:57.989130 [ERR] Unexpected m3u response for XXX: 404 Not Found
2025/06/19 16:28:58.158771 [ERR] Unexpected m3u response for YYY: 404 Not Found
2025/06/19 16:28:59.923826 [DVR] Recording engine started in /Volumes/Media Store/channels-data
2025/06/19 16:29:07.194993 [SYS] Starting Channels DVR v2025.06.01.2212 (darwin-x86_64 pid:99298) in /Users/administrator/Library/Application Support/ChannelsDVR/data
2025/06/19 16:29:07.347392 [SYS] Started HTTP Server on 8089
2025/06/19 16:29:11.487400 [HDR] Found 1 devices
2025/06/19 16:29:11.710297 [M3U] Refreshed lineup for ZZZ with 229 channels
2025/06/19 16:29:11.906019 [ERR] Unexpected m3u response for XXX: 404 Not Found
2025/06/19 16:29:12.053971 [ERR] Unexpected m3u response for YYY: 404 Not Found
2025/06/19 16:29:13.971858 [DVR] Recording engine started in /Volumes/Media Store/channels-data
2025/06/19 16:29:17.247661 [SYS] Starting Channels DVR v2025.06.01.2212 (darwin-x86_64 pid:99312) in /Users/administrator/Library/Application Support/ChannelsDVR/data
2025/06/19 16:29:17.399838 [SYS] Started HTTP Server on 8089
2025/06/19 16:29:18.506847 [HDR] Found 1 devices

#5

I went to /admin/troubleshooting. It came up with a screen where I can run diagnostics. It is running them, but at the bottom it says "Gathering diagnostic logs" and the spinny is spinning endlessly. Here is the text of the diagnostics that are not green:

"TV Everywhere

Chrome installation is corrupted. Please re-install Chrome.
...
Network Interfaces

Multiple interfaces found on the same network. This can cause client issues: 192.168.7.0/24 on interfaces: en0, en1
...
Remote Access

Connected to 64685b4488ba.u.channelsdvr.net but SSL certificate is invalid.
...
DVR Status

DVR is still booting

"

Then, I did the curl statement and I got:

"curl: (52) Empty reply from server"

I started Google Chrome and checked it. It says it is up to date.